Sanctuary
by SassySasha19
Summary: Based after GD. Possibly Snickers. OC but not a Mary Sue. Please read and review. Criticism welcome, but please no flames.
1. When it Rains it Pours

Author's Note: Hi, this is my first time writing a CSI fic. I only recently got into the show, but now I'm pretty obsessed. Lol. I have read some incredibly amazing stories on here and I only hope I can live up to those authors' talent. This fic is a multi-parter and I'm doing my best to try and keep the characters realistic to the show. I'm not sure if this will turn into a Snickers romance or not, but there will definitely be friendship. Please give me honest feedback. I can handle criticsm, but no flames please. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my original characters, I just love to write.

Spoilers: um Grave Danger and a few pieces from seasons 1-5 later on.

Ch 1 When it Rains It Pours

A shrill scream shattered the silence of the night's sky and jolted Maura Davenport from her bed. _Oh my god, Rachel_, was the only thought that raced through Maura's conscience as she quickly threw on her work-boots, grabbed her hooded sweatshirt and raced out of the door. She didn't care that she was still in her pajamas or that the heavy rain was soaking her to the bone. The only thing that mattered was Rachel. _Oh god, please let her be okay_, Maura pleaded silently and as she ran toward the direction of the first scream, another one pierced through the night...

"Ok Jim, what do we have here?" Gil Grissom in his usual "matter of fact" voice. He and Warrick Brown had just arrived at Desert Miracle Wild Animal Sanctuary, and he knew just by looking this was going to be a bad one and a difficult one to process. In the hour long drive it took to get them up here, the rain had only let up a little and everyone knew what rain did to a crime scene.

"Vic's name is Derek Ainsley, 52." Jim Brass read off of his sheet. "He and his wife, Rachel Ainsley owned this Sanctuary for the past eight and a half years. It was called in by an employee, a Miss Maura Davenport. It looks as though his throat's been slit. Blood everywhere." While Brass was rattling off the information, Grissom was walking toward where the body was found. At first glance, he knew his instincts were correct- this **was** going to be a bad one. Derek Ainsley lay face down with his neck at a unnatural angle. Blood was pooled all around his neck, which indeed had been slit. There was also quite a bit of blood spatter, however whether that was part of the scene or due to the rain drops, Grissom couldn't be sure. Damn, did he hate the rain.

"Hey David," Grissom called to the assistant coroner as he dealt down to where he was. "Ya got a TOD for me?"

"Sorry Grissom, I can give you my best educated guess but the rain's cooled down his body temp. We don't know how long he's been out here before he was found. But I'd say he's been dead a few hours tops. Definitely under ten." He added helpfully.

"Great." Grissom replied shortly.

"Well, hey at least we know this is the primary crime scene. That's something right?" Both men turned to see Sara Sidle smiling at them.

"Yea, but that's **all** we seem to know right now." Grissom answered grimly. "So when did you get here?"

"Just now, I saw Brass and he told me to tell you that he wants you to check out Maura Davenport. What do you need me to do?"

Grissom stood up and tried not to wince as he felt his knees crack quietly from the task. He was definitely not getting any younger. "Well, I sent Warrick to check for tire treads, but with the rain...Besides this place is huge. I'm thinking of making this an 'all hands on deck' call."

"You gonna call in Nick?" Sara questioned and watched her supervisor hesitate slightly before answering. Even though it had been a few months since Nick Stokes was abducted, they were all still struggling to move on, especially Nick. He'd been back to work for over a month now and he was constantly trying to prove that he was over it. He was back in the field much quicker then Grissom or the others had wanted and because of this Grissom tried to leave him with easier assignments. Something that Nick noticed and was biting his tongue from saying anything about.

Tonight was his night off and Grissom didn't want to call him if he didn't have to. "I don't know." Grissom finally said with a tired sigh. "I have to go see Brass. Sara, why don't you try and process what you can here once David moves the body?"

"You got it," Sara replied and she lifted her right hand in a mock salute. Grissom started walking away but was stopped by Sara's serious tone. "Hey Grissom. If you really need all our capable people, you should think about calling Nick. You know he'd be up for it. Besides, I think he's getting pretty sick of being handed level 1 rookie cases." As expected Grissom simply raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment, but didn't say anything. Sara shrugged her shoulders and turned back to work.

Grissom walked under the crime tape and headed toward where Brass standing with a young woman. He quickly discerned from the woman's appearance that she was probably Maura Davenport. She was younger than Grissom would have thought. Her long brown hair was pulled up in a haphazard ponytail and she was wearing a large purple zipped up sweatshirt. But those things weren't as important as the reason Brass had asked for Grissom- Maura Davenport was covered in blood.

"Miss Davenport, this is Gil Grissom with the Las Vegas Crime Lab." Brass reported quickly as Grissom came up to them.

"Hi, I am going to need your clothes." Grissom replied and took out his cotton swab from his bag. "And could I see your hands please?"

Maura wordlessly lifted her shaking hands out in front of her and Grissom took the swab and ran it over them. He looked up at Brass and the two seemed to have a silent conversation before Brass said, "I think that it would be best to finish this conversation at the station. Miss Davenport I need you to come with us."

"What? What about Rachel and the animals? I can't just leave them." Maura spoke softly with a trace of southern accent.

"Mrs. Ainsely is with the medic right now. We needed to sedate her. Look Miss, we'll get you back as soon as we can, but for now you really need to come with us." Brass spoke firmly.

"Am I under arrest?" Maura questioned fearfully.

"No, we just need to ask you some questions. For now."

Brass started leading her toward the back of his car and Grissom took out his cell phone. He quickly punched in the numbers and waited for an answer.

"Hello Catherine? It's Grissom. I need you and Greg over at the Desert Miracle Sanctuary as soon as possible." He listened to her response and with a quick "good," he hung up and walked briskly to catch up to Brass and Maura. He was sure that he and Jim had quite a few questions for this girl.


	2. Interrogating Miss Davenport

Author's Note: Hi guys, I really hoped you enjoyed my first chapter. Here's the second one, enjoy!

Disclaimer: If I owned CSI I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be a poor college student, would I?

Spoilers: Grave Danger and various pieces throughout seasons 1-5

Ch 2 Interrogating Miss Davenport

Maura was exhausted. She had endured a completely silent car ride and then was brought into a room that seemed so sterile, she could have almost believed it was meant to be in a hospital. She was then questioned about her whereabouts starting from the morning and going all the way up to when she called 911. Maura watched the two men exchange yet another silent glance and felt like screaming in frustration and sadness. How could this possibly be happening? She thought things had pretty much hit rock bottom when she had found Rachel sobbing over Derek's mutilated body. But now- now she had her clothes taken from her, and she had to wear this blue jumpsuit that was several sizes too large, and she was being interrogated and treated like-like a suspect. That thought made Maura sick to her stomach. _How can this be happening?_ Maura thought frantically. _How could they possibly think that I had something to do with Derek's murder? I love him._..

"Miss Davenport?" Brass's deep voice jolted Maura back into focus. _Oh my god, now they're going to think that I'm trying to come up with a lie or something._

"I'm sorry, I just- I'm sorry." Maura replied quietly. She watched with a sinking feeling in her gut as the cop and the criminalist shared yet another look.

"Miss Davenport can you tell us again why the 911 call came from the victim's cell phone?"

Now Maura was getting upset. She had already told them this story. Twice. She had seen a few cop shows growing up and she realized that they were trying to find an inconsistency with her story. Blinking back tears she repeated what she had said when she had first sat down.

(flashback)

"Rachel? Rachel can you hear me?!" Maura ran to where the screams were the loudest. In her haste to get to her employer and friend, she had forgotten to grab a flashlight. Thankfully she knew the grounds very well and managed to avoid tripping on anything. Her feet pounded the pavement and she heard several howls of the coyotes, that haunting sound terrified her. "Rachel please answer me!" Finally as she rounded the barn where the animals set for relocation was, Maura could make out the top of Rachel's blonde head. Maura slowed down slightly, not sure if she was prepared to see whatever had caused Rachel's desperate screams. Any worst case scenario that she had imagined could not even come close to the horror she was witnessing. Rachel was collapsed on the ground, her entire body shaking and heaving. Less than a foot away lay Rachel's husband and partner, Derek. He was covered in blood and it was obvious he was dead.

"Oh my god, oh my god! Rachel what-"

"Maura please you have to help him!" Rachel lunged for Maura and grabbed the bottom of her sweatshirt. "Do something!"

"Rachel, we have to call 911. Do you have your phone?" Maura was trying so hard not to break down, but she could feel tears rapidly falling down her cheeks. Rachel just shook her head and repeated her plea. "Okay I will but we need help. Where's your phone?"

"I-I left it." Rachel spoke haltingly. This wasn't happening, this had to be some horrible nightmare.

"Shit. Mine's back in my room." Maura glanced down at Derek before saying, "do you know if Derek took his phone with him?" Rachel wasn't talking, she was throwing up. "Oh god," Maura repeated. She inched closer and closer to Derek. The coppery smell of blood was overwhelming and Maura felt light-headed. But she knew what she needed to do and as fast as she could she reached down and felt around for Derek's pocket in his windbreaker. Finding it, she frantically searched for the small phone and thankfully pulled it out. Feeling incredibly light-headed, Maura managed to press 911 and held it to her face. "I need to report a murder..."

(end of flashback)

"I didn't want to waste time running back to the house. I'm sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing." Maura finished, tears had filled her eyes and she was trying to blink them back.

"I can understand that." Grissom replied evenly. "But do you realize that you could have damaged the crime scene and compromised evidence?"

"I wasn't thinking of that, I was thinking I had to call 911." Maura stated a bit defensively.

"Tell me something Miss Davenport. When you first heard the screams, why didn't you call the police right away?" Brass asked.

"I already told you, I don't know. I guess I just thought that maybe one of the animals had gotten upset and hurt her or something. Believe me the last we'd want is for the police to get involved with that. We have enough problems with the red tape from Nevada Fish and Game. I guess I was worried that the police would kill them and I couldn't let that happen."

"Wait, you're telling me that you were worried your employer had been attacked and yet you wouldn't call the cops because you didn't want that animal to be put down?" Brass questioned; his voice sounding a bit incredulous.

"Yes. Look, it's not an animal's fault if it attacks a human, it's the human's. If people make stupid mistakes, then they deserve what they get." Maura finished and crossed her arms tightly around her chilled body.

Both men had raised their eyebrows at the vehemence in her statement. "What about Derek Ainsely?" Grissom couldn't help but mention. "Maybe he made a mistake and was attacked. Do you believe that he's to blame?"

"Mr. Grissom, some monster attacked and killed Derek, **not** an animal. Of course he wasn't to blame. How could you say something so heartless?" Maura said in shock and anger.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off that way. But you know, some people would say those two are one in and same." Grissom replied simply.

Maura eyes flashed dangerously. "Well then I'd say that those people have a lot to learn." Grissom noticed that her accent had thickened as her anger increased. "Are we done here? I have answered all your questions and tried to be helpful. But you're sitting here questioning me when the real killer could be hours away by now. Besides, I have to go home and check on Rachel and the animals. God only knows what your people being there is doing to them."

"Desert Miracle is a sanctuary. Wouldn't they be used to humans?" Brass interjected.

"Yes it's a **sanctuary **not a zoo, officer. The only people they know are me, Rachel, Derek-" her voice broke off a bit at that. "And our vet Joe Stevens. People don't come out to visit us. The only ones that do are to either drop off or pick up."

"Okay, I understand that you're anxious to leave, and you will. Soon." Brass noticed that Grissom had caught his eye and was trying to tell him something. "We will be right back. Would you like a cup of water?"

"No thanks, I'm fine." Maura replied wearily.

"Okay Gil, what was that about?" Brass asked as soon as the two men were in the hallway.

"I know we need to bring her back and although we'd usually have an officer bring her, I have an idea."

"Do I even want to know?" Brass asked jokingly.

"Yea, we need Nick."


	3. You Can Take the Girl out of Texas

Author's Note: Hey guys, I hope you all had a good Christmas...I know I did. Well, here is the latest chapter. I don't know much about Criminal Justice, so I'm not sure if what Nick does here would be allowed in real life. However, this is my story, so I'm taking liberties. Enjoy and please, please review. Your thoughts mean a lot to me...

Disclaimer: I only own my characters, however, I would **love** to own George Eads, lol.

Spoilers: Grave Danger and various pieces from seasons 1-5

ch 3 You Can Take the Girl out of Texas...

It was dark, so incredibly dark. Nick felt as if the darkness was overpowering him. He tried to move but to his surprise and fear, he couldn't. He couldn't even so much as bat an eyelash, every part of him was paralyzed. Apparently, he could still feel though as suddenly he felt thousands of stings all over his body. He ached everywhere and each new sting felt worse than the last. Suddenly the darkness disappeared and he was surrounded by a bright green light and he heard laughing coming from somewhere nearby. _Please help me._ Nick begged silently. The laughter was getting even closer now and then it seemed to be right on top of him. "_Hi CSI guy..."_

A shrill ringing from his cell phone caused Nick Stokes to bolt up from his bed. His heart and head pounding almost rhythmically. Nick grabbed the loud contraption and prayed that his voice would sound even as he answered, "Stokes."

"Nick. It's Grissom. I didn't wake you did I?" Nick inwardly cursed at the sound of his supervisor's voice. Of course out of everyone it just **had** to be Gil freakin' Grissom.

"Nah, not really. What's up boss?" Nick replied, trying to make his voice sound cheerful.

"Well Nick, I need a favor from you. I know it's your night off and everything but-"

"You need me to come in?" Nick asked hopefully.

"Not exactly." Nick frowned at this but waited for Grissom to finish. "I need you to meet me at the PD. I'll tell you everything when you get here."

"The station?" Nick was confused. "Now?"

"Yes, look Brass and I will meet you in front of Interrogation Room 2, alright?"

Nick had no clue what was going on, but anything was better than trying to get back to sleep. He knew this routine and knew it well. Granted things had been slowly getting better, Nick still considered himself lucky if he could go for one whole night without waking up from nightmares. "Uh sure. Give me twenty minutes?"

"See you then." Grissom replied and hung up without saying goodbye.

"Yea, see you." Nick said faintly into the dial tone. "What have I gotten myself into?" He wondered out loud. He got out of bed and the question of whether or not he had time for a quick shower evaporated as he felt the backs of his sweat pants sticking to his legs from his sweat. The back of his neck and back were soaked as well. He hurriedly walked to the bathroom and turned on the faucet. He most likely wouldn't have time for coffee, but that was okay...it's not like he needed the caffeine to stay awake; he had those lovely nightmares to think about.

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"Okay let me see if I got this straight," Nick said disbelievingly. "You want me to take this Maura Davenport back to the sanctuary where she works and where her employer was just murdered. And where the rest of our team is currently working on processing the crime, right?"

"That about sums it up." Grissom answered.

Nick looked back and forth between the two older men. "But guys, I'm not a cop. I mean no disrespect here Brass, but isn't this part of y'all's job description?"

"None taken Nicky. And yes, it is but Grissom thought it might be a good idea if you did it." Brass answered matter of factly.

"But why me?" Nick questioned

"Well Nick, this isn't really any different then what Sara did a few years back for that girl." Grissom replied reasonably, completely ignoring Nick's question.

"What girl?" Nick asked before exclaiming, "wait are you talking about that family homicide with the girl who's sister was actually her daughter? Oh no, that's completely different. For one thing Sara was asked to keep an eye on a little girl, not an adult. She was what, six at most? Sara wasn't asked to drive back to the crime scene and more or less **babysit** because her boss didn't think she was ready to handle anything other than rookie cases." Nick realized his voice had gotten a little louder and more impassioned and quickly dropped it. "Griss, I just think I would be more useful in the field."

Brass looked over at Nick and couldn't help but feel a stab of sympathy for the younger man. He had already been through so much, much more than most people have to deal with in their entire lives, not just in the span of a few years. He glanced at his long time friend and realized that Grissom was probably thinking the same thing. It would explain the "rookie" cases that Nick was now just complaining about.

"You're right, it is completely different from Sara's case. And it's not that I don't think you can handle harder cases Nicky, it's just-" Grissom broke off his sentence. He never was very good at conveying his emotions. He took a deep breath and tried a different tactic. "I think you should drive this woman back to the sanctuary because, well, you're good with people Nick. You always have been. You're a very sympathetic person." Nick tried his best to remain expressionless, but he couldn't help but widen his eyes at Grissom's words. He was not someone who handed out compliments often, if ever.

"And.." Nick asked, not because he was fishing for any more compliments but because he wanted to know how this was relevant to driving Maura Davenport.

"And well right now the crime scene is a mess. We've already had contamination due to Miss Davenport touching the body. Although it's stopped raining, it was earlier and any tracks are long gone by now. Plus the sanctuary is on over 30 acres of land. It's going to be very hard to convict our suspect, once we actually have a plausible one, mind you." Grissom broke off again and ran his fingers wearily through his hair. "It's going to be a long investigation Nick and if you can get that girl to tell you anything..."

Suddenly Nick understood. "So you want me to try and fish information out of her?"

"Just do what you can Nicky." Brass interjected. "But right now I think you'd be our best option."

"Okay." Nick replied slowly. "I still don't know if I can really be of any help, but I'll try."

"Great, thanks Nicky. I'm gonna send her out here. Be right back." Brass turned and went inside the room. Nick watched and listened on the intercom the conversation.

"Miss Davenport, I want you to know that we do appreciate your patience and we have someone to take you back to the sanctuary, okay?" Nick watched as the woman nodded her head slightly. The next thing he knew he was face to face with his "charge."

"Miss Davenport, this is Nick Stokes from the crime lab as well. He is going to be taking you home." Brass introduced.

"If that's alright with you, of course." Nick answered with a smile, trying to put her at ease.

"That's fine." Maura replied softly.

Nick refrained from raising his eyebrows when she spoke. Despite the fact that she had only said two words, Nick immediately picked up a Texan accent from her. _So apparently Grissom had another reason for picking me_, Nick thought wryly.

A/N: So what did you guys think? Should I continue? Please review...


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